'Save the Bay' names 23 trash 'hot spots'

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By ABC7 Archive

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On Coastal Cleanup Day last year, when volunteers worked to
eradicate waste from the Bay, 125 tons of trash was plucked from the water --
including 15,000 plastic bags, according to Save the Bay. An average of three
pieces of trash was found along every foot of streams leading to the Bay.

The trash threatens more than 500 species of wildlife, including
23 endangered species such as the California clapper rail, Save the Bay
officials said.

"We need to act now to stop trash from polluting the bay and
killing its wildlife," David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, said
in a statement.

Cerrito Creek in El Cerrito, which runs adjacent to the El Cerrito
Plaza shopping center and picks up windblown trash, and Coyote Creek in San
Jose -- which contains what Save the Bay called "trash rafts," or clusters of
garbage from dumping, littering and nearby encampments -- are named as the
two most trash-polluted waterways in the Bay Area.

Save the Bay also listed Saratoga Creek in Saratoga, which
collects trash from high-use areas including a nearby community college,
shopping mall and expressways, and Colma Creek in South San Francisco as
other waterways that dump waste into the Bay.

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is
examining whether the federal Clean Water Act water quality standards are met
for those waterways, Save the Bay officials said.

A possible solution is a five-year storm water permit to be
considered this fall by the water board that would regulate the amount of
trash cities and counties may discharge into the Bay, Save the Bay officials
said.

"Because most Bay Area cities have not significantly reduced trash
entering bay waterways, a strong storm water permit with real trash reduction
requirements and enforcement is essential to make the bay cleaner," Lewis
said. "Tough restrictions are needed to stop trashing the Bay."

The permit would cover Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San
Mateo counties, according to Save the Bay.

Save the Bay's 23 most trash-polluted waterways that drain
directly into the Bay are: